


Alone in the world

by koukacs



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure: (Anime 2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koukacs/pseuds/koukacs
Summary: Koushiro thinks he's alone at the network, but Tentomon finds him.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	Alone in the world

**Author's Note:**

> Digimon doesn't belong to me. This fic takes place in the universe of Digimon Adventure Psi (or Digimon Adventure 2020) and shows how Koushiro met Tentomon. I'm using my hc that Koushiro was a bit old when his biological parents died.

**Alone in the world**

Koushiro recognized that landscape immediately. He had seen those colorful forms and sparks when he first had contact with the network space, back when Taichi had gone there for the first time. However, the older boy was nowhere nearby. Koushiro found himself alone in that world.

"Taichi-san!" Koushiro called, wandering through that strange place. A cold wind sent chills down his neck. "Taichi-san, where are you?" he insisted, getting increasingly desperate. "Please, answer me! Taichi-san!"

Was he really alone there?

A sensation he had tried to bury for years was reemerging. Once again he could hear, in the back of his mind, the whispers from those people, who were too sure a grieving child couldn't listen to them during his parents' ceremony.

" _That poor helpless kid!"_

" _It's so sad!"_

" _He has no family anymore."_

" _He's all alone now."_

" _Alone in the world."_

Koushiro was surprised when he saw the teardrops falling on his tablet. He was clutching the object against his chest, as if afraid of losing it. The boy knew he had done that many times before. Maybe that was a silly fear, but it was still overwhelming. It probably lingered from that great loss he once suffered.

He wiped his tears with the back of a hand and faced forward. Koushiro wasn't a helpless child. Taichi had told him that he had been helpful, that he had been useful. He had to believe in his friend's words. Koushiro just needed to keep his calm and think. There had to be something he could do.

"It's going to be alright," the boy told himself.

"Of course it is! Don't worry!" a voice suddenly said behind him, startling the child.

Koushiro turned around quickly and saw a huge ladybug hovering a couple of meters away from him. The insect was staring at the child.

"Hi, there! I'm Tentomon!" the monster greeted. "I saw you and thought you were lost. So, I'm here to help!"

"Tentomon...?" Koushiro repeated that name in low voice, studying the other. "Are you a digimon...?"

"Yes, of course I am!" Tentomon confirmed. "What are you? You don't look like a digimon."

"I'm a human being, I came from a different world. My name is Izumi Koushiro, nice to meet you!" Koushiro introduced himself, bowing slightly.

"Izumi Koushiro-han..." Tentomon said, "Izumi-han... Koushiro-han! That's it! Koushiro-han sounds better! I'm going to call you that!"

The boy was about to say that the digimon didn't need to address him with a honorific, but a question made its way to his lips before he could think it through:

"Is that Kansai dialect?"

"What is Kansai, Koushiro-han?"

"Ehr... never mind that..." the boy muttered, trying to come up with a theory for the monster to talk like that without ever being in Japan. Then, another concern rose in his mind, which led him to begin to ask:

"Excuse me, uhm... Tentomon-san...? Have you seen-"

"I don't like the sound of that at all!" Tentomon interrupted. "Don't call me with 'san,' please!"

"S-Sorry!" Koushiro hurried to say. "If you don't like 'san'... should I call you 'Tentomon-kun,' then?"

"That sounds even worse!" Tentomon complained. "Just call me by my name alone."

Koushiro felt blood rushing to his face. When talking to someone, he always used a honorific. To drop it, especially with someone he had just met, felt too audacious for him. However, he couldn't insist on using honorifics if doing that upset the other.

"If that's what you want, then I'll respect your wishes, Tentomon," Koushiro said in low voice. Hopefully, he would soon get used to calling him that and stop feeling awkward about the lack of honorific.

"Thank you, Koushiro-han!" Tentomon exclaimed.

"You don't have to use honorifics with me," Koushiro told him.

"But I really want to call you 'Koushiro-han,' and you said you would respect my wishes!" Tentomon contested.

Koushiro thought that he couldn't argue with that kind of logic. The boy felt it was unfair that he had to drop honorifics while Tentomon wasn't willing to do it, but decided that it was best to let that slide.

"So, Koushiro-han, you were looking for someone, right?" Tentomon asked.

"Yes! I'm looking for another human being!" Koushiro confirmed. "His name is Yagami Taichi-san. He's taller than me and has big brown hair. Have you seen him?"

"I haven't seen anyone around, besides you," Tentomon told him. "I could help you to look for him. This Taichi-han is older than you, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?" the boy asked.

"It was just wishful thinking, actually," Tentomon said. "I was worried when I saw a little kid like you all alone, so I hoped that there was someone out there to take care of you."

"T-That's not..." Koushiro mumbled, shaking with embarrassment. "Taichi-san doesn't take care of me!"

"Does he treat you badly?" Tentomon had a worried voice.

"No, of course not!" Koushiro denied. "He's a wonderful person! Taichi-san is kind and encouraging! The way he smiles at you... and his way of talking that makes you feel..."

The boy lost himself in his memories of his friend and had to be taken back to reality by Tentomon.

"He sounds like a good friend who takes care of you!" the digimon exclaimed.

"I-It's not like that! I mean, Taichi-san has done a lot for me and many other people... he does amazing things... but I helped him too, he told me that I helped him! I got to be useful... I wasn't just..."

Fragments from his past echoed in his mind. He remembered the day he had met Mr. And Mrs. Izumi. Back then, how fiercely was he clutching that tablet against his chest?

" _You don't have to be scared, Koushiro. You don't need to worry about anything."_

" _We will take care of you now."_

Koushiro felt his eyes getting warm as those memories returned, but refused to cry. Crying had never helped him, it had never returned anything he had lost. It would be just bothersome for other people if he were to cry in front of them.

"Then, you take care of each other! That's how friends should be!" Tentomon said, excitedly.

Koushiro was taken aback by that statement, but wasn't bothered by it. The idea that he was capable of doing something for the sake of others filled his heart with joy.

"Say, Koushiro-han, what's that thing that you're holding?" Tentomon asked, pointing to the tablet that Koushiro had in his arms.

"It's a tablet that I can also use as a computer," Koushiro explained. "I use it to analyze data and it helps me to communicate..."

Only then the boy realized that he could've contacted Taichi a long time ago and felt like the dumbest person alive.

"I... I can actually talk to Taichi-san and ask where he is..." Koushiro muttered, embarrassed, "I had forgotten about it..."

"You can talk to him? That's great!" Tentomon sounded excited. "After you talk to him, I can take you to where your friend is."

"You don't have to go through that much trouble because of me," Koushiro tried to dissuade the digimon. He didn't know how far away Taichi was or how long it would take to find him. It wasn't fair to inconvenience Tentomon that way.

"Don't worry, it's not like I have anything better to do, anyway!" Tentomon assured him. "Besides, I like talking to you. It's going to be a fun trip because I enjoy your company!"

"You... enjoy my company...?" Koushiro asked, in disbelief. The boy tried to remember if anyone had ever said such a thing to him before.

"You sound like a very intelligent person and you're also very polite. You seem to care very much for other people, which I find admirable," Tentomon told him. "I like you a lot already, Koushiro-han!"

The sensation born from that statement was warmer than what he felt when he was able to be useful to someone. _I'm not a bother... I'm not bothering him..._ Koushiro thought. He couldn't begin to describe the deep happiness that was engulfing him.

Koushiro found a spot to sit and then contacted Taichi. He was surprised to see that Sora from the summer camp was with the other boy, but was glad that his friend wasn't alone.

Then, Koushiro realized that the other kids couldn't be alone because they had digimon with them. He wondered if Tentomon could be to him what Agumon was to Taichi. Koushiro felt that was an audacious thought. Tentomon was probably just a nice digimon willing to help him out of kindness. It wouldn't be the first time he found people like that. However, Koushiro wished that wasn't the case.

Like he had done when he lost his parents, Koushiro wished he didn't have to be alone in that big and strange world.


End file.
